WEEE and metal reprocessor Recycling Lives has unveiled a "groundbreaking" recycling centre for flat panel displays which it claims addresses the health and safety issues associated with reprocessing the growing waste stream. The £250,000 project, based at the company's Preston headquarters, aims to address both the time involved in dismantling the complex flat panel display complex units and the hazardous mercury backlights that are present in each unit. The facility aims to address the health and safety issues associated with FPD recycling. Recycling Lives claims that the facility, which it says is the first of its kind in England, offers a best practice solution for both these issues that has been developed with the support of four years of research. The tonnage of waste flat panel displays (FPDs) such as laptop monitors and LCD TVs generated in the UK is expected to increase significantly over the next few years as those purchased as a replacement for traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) equipment reach the end of their operational life.
